Serial car thief Connor Uebergang, 21, pleads guilty to 49 charges

An elderly man has recalled the moment his vehicle accelerated as he grappled with a car thief, telling a court he thought he might die in the terrifying encounter.

Conor Uebergang pleaded guilty in Geelong Magistrates Court to dozens of offences.

An 87-year-old man stopped a serial car thief from swiping his vehicle by sitting on him, a court has heard.

The victim threw himself onto would-be thief Connor Uebergang as he got behind the wheel, the vehicle then crashed into a bush and threw the elderly man clear, leaving him with physical and emotional scarring.

Uebergang, 21, appeared in the Geelong Magistrates Court on Tuesday via prison link and pleaded guilty to 49 charges, including recklessly causing injury and a raft of dishonesty, weapons and drug offences. The charges stem from a crime spree across Geelong and Torquay last year.

The court heard Uebergang was released from prison in July after serving the entirety of a two-year sentence. In August, he relapsed into drug use and crime.

During his spree, Uebergang broke into homes in Newtown and Grovedale and stole cars “one after the other”, as well as snatching bank cards and handbags.

He used the stolen cards to make hundreds of dollars worth of purchases.

On one occasion, he was found hiding in a frontyard in Breakwater after police chased a car from Armstrong Creek.

Across several days in September, Uebergang repeatedly went to the address of an associate’s ex-partner, on one occasion breaking in through the roof, after removing roof tiles, to burgle it.

In October, an 87-year-old man was leaving the carpark of a Belmont business when he briefly hopped out of the car to close the gate behind him.

Uebergang, jumped behind the wheel and the man quickly moved to stop him from stealing the vehicle.

As Uebergang accelerated, the victim got into the car and sat on him – the car then drove into a bush across the road.

The victim was thrown out of the car on impact, suffering cuts and abrasions, while Uebergang fled with his bag.

The incident was the only time that Uebergang chose to make a comment during a police interview, telling police it was stupid and: “I f--ked up”.

In a victim impact statement read to the court by police prosecutor, Leading Senior Constable Kerrie-Ann Moroney, the 87-year-old victim said the incident was “constantly on (his) mind”.

“(I fear) at any time or place, I or my close family risk being set upon by criminals,” the man wrote.

He said he was unable to stop thinking about how close he had come to dying in the moment he felt the car accelerate.

Uebergang’s lawyer, Jess Wensley, told the court her client’s offending was “interconnected with his substance use” and asked for a combined sentence of jail followed by a community corrections order (CCO).

She said when Uebergang got out of prison, he had no source of income, and began stealing to fund his addiction.

Uebergang’s drug use began at 14 years old, Ms Wensley said.

She said Uebergang was “particularly remorseful” in relation to the incident with the elderly man, and had written a letter to the court.

Ms Wensley said there was hope for Uebergang, with a letter from a potential employer offering him a job and stability upon his release.

“He’s still such a young man and he can turn this around,” Ms Wensley said.

Constable Moroney told the court it was concerning Uebergang came before the court with so many prior convictions at the age of 21.

Magistrate Ann McGarvie adjourned the matter to January 22 so Uebergang could be assessed for a CCO.

Originally published as Serial car thief Connor Uebergang, 21, pleads guilty to 49 charges